


Three wheels of cheese and a Great White

by ximeria



Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: Still Have Powers, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Humour, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Resolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, shark memes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-23 19:50:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18708832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ximeria/pseuds/ximeria
Summary: Charles and Erik were friends with benefits in college.They went their separate ways and 18 years later, they run into each other in New York.The sex was never a problem back in college - and sex was all it had been. But now Erik is a divorced father and Charles has admitted to himself he needs more than just sex in a relationship. So in their usual round-about way they try to navigate becoming friends after so many years. The whole quest is aided by Raven, Edie, Wanda and Pietro (and a large number of shark jokes).





	Three wheels of cheese and a Great White

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to [meinposhbastard](https://archiveofourown.org/users/meinposhbastard/pseuds/meinposhbastard) for nagging me until I finished this story idea and for betaing and telling me to add more and more XD

Charles put his hand on the wall of the building, letting the busy Christmas shoppers pass him by.

Their minds were a weaving mass of stress and things to do - places to be. Charles allowed himself a small smile. It was amazing how alive New York always made him feel. Not that Oxford had been bad, not at all, but there was something about the craziness of a buzzing New York that just... called to him.

Of course, another few hours and he'd have a horrible headache from it, but as it was right now, it was perfect and made him feel alive, made his telepathy feel like a big sponge soaking up the aliveness.

Throwing himself into the masses again, he did lament that he was as short as he was, but as much as he didn't use his gift to influence people, he considered it acceptable to use it to nudge people to flow around him rather than walking into him.

That was right until he walked into an immovable man, right in the middle of the street. "Excuse me," Charles said, staggering back a little.

The stranger grabbed his arm and kept him on his feet and then Charles was looking up into a very familiar face. Fair enough, a face aged by about a decade and a half, but still familiar - as was the mind, so beautiful that Charles couldn't stop himself from wrapping his own around it. Not diving in, no, he'd never do that, but curl up around it like a cat around a hot water bottle.

"Charles?"

Charles didn't know what to say. For a moment all coherent thoughts seemed to bleed from his grasp, leaving behind only the intimate knowledge he had of this man. Then his thought process seemed to blink back into existence.

"Erik?" He couldn't quite believe his eyes. "I thought you were in Germany," he said, roughly at the same time as Erik said, "I thought you were in Oxford."

They stared at each other for a moment, then started laughing, and Charles was aware that Erik's hand was still warm and heavy on his arm.

"Sounds like we should be catching up at some point," Erik said, his smile still as wide as Charles remembered it. Still as enticing.

"Yes," Charles said, ignoring the little voice in the back of his head that told him this might not be a good idea. Especially considering that he and Erik had basically been friends with benefits back in college and Charles wasn't looking for another physical relationship with anyone.

Not even Erik Lehnsherr, who looked even better these days than he had back in college. Tall, imposing, yes, but he'd grown into himself, held himself so perfectly. And his ability to shield his mind had never failed to entice Charles. There was the surface that Charles would always recognize, but the depth were masterfully veiled to him.

Erik was holding out his phone, an expectant look on his face. "If you want to... swap numbers?" He paused, his phone sinking a little. "I mean, if you're in New York for long enough and you can find the time..."

Charles drew in a quick breath. "Yes, I mean I'm here now, just moved back stateside earlier this year," he admitted.

"Permanently?" Erik asked, something in his eyes lighting up.

Charles didn't want to label it hope. Nor did he want to listen to his own hope screaming at him that maybe- No. He didn't need another relationship that would go nowhere. He was too old to simply live on a sexual relationship - he needed more, and until he found that, he shouldn't-

"I have no plans to move anytime soon, so I'm back in Westchester." Charles didn't manage to stop himself.

"In that old, drafty castle?" Erik asked with a laugh.

"It's been re-insulated," Charles laughed. It was possible he'd missed Erik's sense of humour as well. The side of him that so few others seemed to ever see, but the one that had made their sex amazing and fun.

"Look, I'm in the middle of finding some things for my kids, and I don't particularly like the insanity of Christmas shoppers," Erik said, "but let's swap numbers and meet up - reconnect."

Charles' attention stumbled on the words 'my kids'. Married, Erik was probably married, had children, wouldn't want to pick up where they had left off.

That either made him the safest option, or worse, the least safe one. Charles would like to think that he was too morally clean to bed a married man. But this was Erik, and if he was the married man, Charles could only imagine the worst case scenarios bringing more trouble than he could ever hope to be able to handle.

Digging his phone out of his pocket, Charles knew it wasn't really an option to turn down exchanging numbers. No, really, doing so wouldn't mean Charles was wavering on his promise to himself, right? No, the question was what he'd do with the number when he had it. And the answer to that would be 'nothing'. And Erik wouldn't call anyway, if he was married and had kids, he'd definitely not be interested in starting up another round of what was possibly the best sex Charles had ever had.

So there, no harm, no foul, Charles told himself as he rattled off his number to Erik, who in turn sent him a text with… a smiling emoji. What had the world come to? Erik Lehnsherr using emojis? Charles wasn't going to comment on it, but he was going to keep it in mind if he ever needed any leverage.

"Well, I gotta run," Erik said, looking truly contrite. "It's great seeing you again," he added, leaning in and hugging Charles.

"Erm, yes," Charles managed to reply before the man was gone.

So there Charles was, in the middle of a busy New York street, staring after Erik Lehnsherr, his heart beating a mile a minute. Looking down at the phone in his hand, Charles opened the text function and shot a quick text off to Raven.

\--I am so screwed--

* * *

Erik hummed to himself as he hung his jacket up in the hallway and waved his hand to float the keys on to the hook behind the door. He didn't normally care about Christmas, but because Magda wasn't jewish, the children had been brought up to celebrate Christmas in all its capitalist glory.

In the old days, Erik would have ranted against all this, but in all truth, he didn't mind it all that much. His mother made sure that the twins were getting more familiar with his religion, but Erik wasn't so much of a Grinch that he would cut them off from what they were used to. Eventually, when they were a little older, they could choose whether or not they would convert to judaism. For now, with only a year since they had moved from Magda’s home to his, Erik wasn't going to force them into anything. He did his level best to give them a loving and stable home, but he felt woefully inadequate at handling two teenagers on his own.

Two mutant teenagers, even.

He didn't begrudge Magda that she'd given up when both kids had come into their powers with a week apart. Erik had seen the twins maybe four times a year before that, but within that short time they had manifested, he'd bought a house in a New York suburb and helped Magda move them in with him.

He'd thankfully saved up a lot while he'd been working in Germany, before he'd come back to the states a few years earlier. The jobs he'd had since he'd gotten back hadn't been permanent enough for his liking, but as an engineer, at least the going rate for freelancing wasn't too shabby. Especially with his specializations. 

Still, he'd lined up a job interview in early January at Hammer Industries. Not his first choice of work place, because it wasn't a place with the best reputation, but if it could get him a longer term contract, he wasn't going to argue with it.

Erik caught his own reflection in the mirror on the way past and grinned at it. He hadn't expected to run into Charles at any point. For all he'd known, the man was still in Oxford. He wondered if it was too early to ask to go for a cup of coffee in a day or two - hell, Charles was probably crazy busy this close to Christmas. He'd always been insanely fond of Christmas when they'd known each other. Often to the point of annoying Erik.

"Dad?" Pietro rounded a corner at maybe half his usual speed, skidding to a stop, staring at Erik. "What happened to your face?"

Erik raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

"Your face looks broken - you're smiling!" Pietro stared at him in disbelief. "Who did you kill?"

Erik rolled his eyes. "I didn't kill anyone, kid." He put the rest of his shopping away. "I ran into an old friend from high school in the city - someone I hadn't expected to see again."

Pietro shook his head. "I don't think you've ever mentioned friends before."

Being the ripe old age of fourteen, Pietro was nearly obsessed with friendships - and he had a habit of trying to dig into his dad's lack of friends. Which Erik found a little annoying. He was busy working, he didn't exactly have a lot of time going out to find new friends. Mind, Pietro was about as skilled at forming new friendships as his dad had been at his age. Which was to say, he sucked at it. At least his sister had better luck and skill in that department.

"I went to Germany, he went to Oxford," Erik chose to say. The kid didn't need to know about the kind of friendship he and Charles had shared. It could have possibly been more than just the friends with benefits kind, if Erik had been less prone to distrust and Charles hadn't been just as afraid of commitment as Erik.

Now, adult Erik could understand what kind of issues they'd both had, but back then? They hadn't had the intelligence or emotional maturity between them to form a normal relationship. Hell, it had been the last thing that Erik had wanted back then. 

There were a lot of things Erik had grown out of, a lot of things he was glad he'd grown out of.

Pietro was gone for a moment, and then he came back, this time with his sister in tow.

"Is it true you have a boyfriend?" The words were out of Wanda's mouth like a shot. She looked so damned hopeful that Erik had to wince. Because, erm, no. He almost regretted being open about his bisexuality with his brood. It meant twice the amount of 'look at him/her, wouldn't they be great boyfriend/girlfriend material?'.

"No, I ran into an old friend in the city - not a boyfriend." Well, they had never spoken of exclusivity back then, so quite frankly, you couldn't really call what they had been to each other 'boyfriends'.

"Ah," was all Wanda said, her eyes boring into his, like she didn't really believe him.

"Look, as much as I liked Charles, and that may in itself be a rarity," Erik agreed, "I have the two of you to take care of, not to mention looking for a more permanent job here."

"You know we'd like for you to have a social life," Wanda said, far too smart for her age, and Pietro nodded behind her.

"This isn't some Disney movie where you get together and get your dad a boyfriend, you know," Erik warned them. Those two hellions could cause just that kind of trouble - all for _their_ perception of the greater good, of course, but trouble nevertheless.

"Sure, Dad," Pietro replied, while Wanda was the one to nod vigorously.

"I mean it, you two, if I ever introduce you to him, then you'll behave yourselves." Erik regretted the words right away, because if anything it made the two of them even more hopeful.

As it was, Erik ran into Charles earlier than he'd expected.

* * *

Charles was well aware that Raven thought it was hilarious that Erik had turned up in his life again, and he swore that he wouldn't, at any point, let her meet Erik. That was, if they did meet up again.

He'd exchanged a few texts with Erik, but neither of them had really had the time to meet so far. Perhaps sometime later in the year, Charles promised himself. Tonight he had to get together at Emma's, another old friend from his college years. They were a week into the new year and Emma always held a little post-New Year's party.

And this was where Charles should have known better than to let his guard down. Because Emma was thorough, and she could be such a bastard sometimes. With Erik back in New York, of course she knew and of course he'd been invited as well. Damn old college friends to hell.

Charles had put a lid on his gift before entering the city, mostly because it tended to give him a bit of a headache being around so many people. So he hadn't pulled his shields down at all before entering Emma's home - so he hadn't noticed Erik's mind until the moment he was at Emma's door and it called to his attention.

"Charles, how good to see you!" Emma greeted him once he'd gotten rid of his coat and Charles had a hell of a hard time focusing on her because Erik's mind sang out to his as it always did.

And Emma knew. Of course she did.

"I can't believe we have both Lehnsherr and you back in New York," Emma said and while Charles hadn't opened his mind to her, he knew what she was doing.

"Emma…" Charles said, trying to pack as much warning into it as he could.

"Come now, Charles, you always made a hot couple, the two of you," Emma said with a wink, giving him a hug.

Charles sighed. She wasn't wrong.

"Don't worry - I'm not that evil," she whispered into his ear, her breath warm on the shell of his ear. "I happen to like both of you, I wouldn't try to tank something that might benefit both the Master of Magnetism and the little Professor."

With that she gave him a final squeeze and walked off to greet the next guests.

Charles made a face. Who was she calling little? The only reason she towered over him were those bloody heels. He ignored the mental snort this earned him from Emma. Not that Charles paid it much attention, he was busying trying not to give into the siren call of Erik's mind, but apparently he was dead out of luck, because Erik seemed to be homing in on him.

"Thought I recognized the watch," Erik said, almost sheepishly when they were close enough to each other. The music was at least not the loud and noisy kind - they could have a conversation, if they raised their voices a little.

Charles felt a little warm. He hadn't had this watch when he'd been at school with Erik, which meant that Erik had familiarize himself with it when they had run into each other last time. He braced himself for an evening of awkward conversation, but he was thankfully proven wrong very quickly.

* * *

Erik was happy that Charles was there, even if he felt like the usual socializing skills just meant he'd latched on to the first familiar person who'd come along. He did know a lot of the others from their time at college, but Charles was as always his preferred partner. He always had been, hadn't he? Even when it had just been… well, a relationship based on sex?

They'd even gravitated to the balcony of Emma's penthouse. Her place had always been extravagant, even more so since she'd taken over the family company. Nice place, the kind Erik could never afford. He sighed softly. He really needed a stable job if he wanted to keep living anywhere near New York. Even the suburbs were pricey these days.

Charles looked up at him, his breath a little white and the tip of his nose a little red. Erik quickly squashed the urge to hug him to keep him warm. Emma had the kind of space heaters that cafes had on her balcony and there were blankets on the chairs as well. Currently, he and Charles were sitting next to each other on one of the benches, huddling under the blankets. It was cold, yes, but also comfy and he couldn't complain about the company.

"Do you ever think back to our time at college?" Erik asked. He did. And he had, especially, since seeing Charles again for the first time in years.

Charles stilled next to him. "Sometimes. Why do you ask?"

"Dunno, it was a simpler time back then, I guess," Erik said, wanting to bring up how good they'd been together. "We were simpler. Sex was simpler."

Charles coughed a little. "We were never simple, my friend. The sex, yes, but us? We fought so much over everything and anything."

Erik shrugged. "I think I, at least, saw the world in less nuances - more black and white. You were either with mutants or against them."

Charles seemed to relax again and Erik realized that maybe he didn't want to remember the time they had spent together. Well, at least the time spent in bed together.

"Maybe the sex was so good because we were both a couple of stubborn hotheads," Erik tried again.

He really wanted to know if Charles was interested in starting anything again. Mostly, he wanted a stable relationship much like he wanted a stable job, but the memories… damn, but even his time with Magda hadn't quite reached the level of heat that it had with Charles back then. Mind, they had been younger, and had felt everything so much deeper. Anger, joy, excitement.

Stamina had also never been an issue.

Again, Charles seemed to go quiet.

"I sometimes miss our debates," Erik said, relenting. It seemed like his efforts to steer their conversation towards their previous relationship and the sex wasn't quite working - and if Charles wasn't interested, then at least Erik would have him back as a friend.

This brought a laugh from Charles. "I can't say I do, Erik. We were at each other's throats nine times out of ten, it's a miracle we didn't kill each other."

Erik shrugged. Maybe time had glossed over a lot of it, but he remembered it the way he did. Charles had always challenged him, been willing to go the distance and discuss anything at length with Erik. And it had always forced Erik to think, to be better, to be better at arguing his points.

"It's possible that you chipping away at my extremes is why my marriage lasted long enough to spawn the twins," Erik said with a laugh. Magda, much like Charles, had never shied away from arguing with him.

"How long-" Charles stopped. "Not that it's any of my business." He looked a little embarrassed.

"Nah, it's not like it's a secret," Erik said with a laugh. "Magda and I were great friends, but we sucked at being married. Four years, we managed, but at least we were on friendly terms afterwards, so I saw the kids as often as my work allowed."

"So it was worth it?" Charles sounded genuinely curious.

Erik nodded. "For the kids and my personal growth? Yes. Even if the kids can be royal pain in the ass now that they've hit the teenage years. But when they manifested, Magda felt she was in over her head. I don't blame her, neither do the kids, but it's why they now live with me and occasionally visit their mother."

Charles laughed. "I'm sure you're doing your best."

"I hope my best is good enough," Erik huffed. Which brought him back to needing something permanent in his life. He sighed deeply.

"Why the glum sighing, my friend?" Charles asked, taking a sip from his glass of wine.

Erik shrugged. He could lay it all out for Charles, but something told him not to. Well, he could be honest about something he wanted, at least. "I've mostly worked freelance over the years, but since I got the kids, I've been looking for more stable work. I'm good at what I do, but I don't always work well with others - and there are many engineers out there looking for jobs - most of them know the right people to get the right job interviews." Whereas Erik didn't know anyone and had to fight his way up the food chain from the basement.

"Any specific places you've tried to get into?" Charles asked curiously. He was leaning into Erik again and this time Erik relaxed. 

"I've tried them all," Erik said with a laugh. "I've got a job interview at Hammer Industries next week." It wasn't high on his list of places to apply, but they'd at least called back about a job interview. Most of the other places hadn't.

Charles made a face. "Justin Hammer?"

"Beggars can't be chooser," Erik said, feeling the faint echo of his mother in those words. He'd always had his pride to deal with, and she wasn't wrong. He was old enough to understand now that he had to make a living. Especially with the kids now in his care.

"You're too good for that moron," Charles said with a huff, his breath turning pure white with the exhalation.

"That may be," Erik said with a laugh, feeling warm on the inside. Hearing this especially from Charles was… oddly endearing. From most other people Erik would have probably just shrugged it off. "But unless you know a company hiring engineers at the moment that I haven't found, I don't see too many other options," Erik said jokingly, taking a sip of his own wine. It would be nice to be allowed to be picky, but he'd had to learn to bend his own stubbornness.

Charles' face broke into a grin, handing Erik his glass. "Hold this, I might." He had his phone out a moment later, then looked at Erik. "If you're okay with me… eh, meddling. Raven says I meddle a lot."

Erik just stared at him. He looked so eager, but there was a hesitation there. Erik wondered what kind of arguments Charles had been through with his sister to get to this point. The old Charles would have steamrollered his way through, feeling he knew best.

"By all means - I think most places would be better than Hammer industries. And even just a job interview somewhere else would be good." He wondered who Charles was furiously texting. "And they have to be legit and above board. I have the kids to think about."

Charles smiled reassuringly at him, then went back to texting.

For a moment, the balcony was silent and Erik almost took a sip of Charles' wine, then cleared his throat and went for his own glass. Staring out over the city in all of its glory, Erik could feel the steel of the buildings, the electromagnetic static-y feel of electricity like an itch just under his skin. He could lose himself in this city, if he allowed it. Then all hell broke loose from Charles' phone, startling Erik back to the here and now. It lit up, one text notification nearly drowned out by the next.

"Well, he's awake," Charles muttered. "And caffeinated, it seems. Unless he's been up for a few days running, then I'm not sure we can deal with him."

Erik blinked in confusion. "Who exactly are you texting?" Erik had figured Charles knew a PA or other assistant in a company, but that type of behaviour sounded more like a mad scientist. Not that Erik hadn't pulled his fair share of all-nighters on more caffeine than a human body should be able to process.

Then the notification tone was cut off by the phone ringing, and Charles rolled his eyes and picked up. "Yes?" He grinned. "Yes, would I lie to you? And no, that doesn't count. That was for your own good." He paused for a moment, listening to the other end of the conversation. "And how do you know his name?" He looked pleasantly surprised. "Really. Hang on a sec." He turned to Erik. "Did you publish some articles on circuit suits for medical use?"

Erik nodded, wondering how that had gotten around. Because he had. In a German science journal. For all he was aware, it had never been translated.

Charles just stared at him for a moment. "Wow. Okay." He put the phone back against his ear. "Hang on a second, you maniac. I can't just throw him in at the deep end." Charles grinned. "Fuck. You're so full of yourself, sometimes." Charles huffed out a laugh, then snorted. "Just give me a moment." He looked up. "Erik?"

Erik blinked a couple of times, trying to keep up with a one-sided conversation. He wondered if he'd had that much to drink. "Yes?"

"What would you say to brunch at Stark Tower tomorrow?" He paused for a moment, listening to the other end of the conversation, never taking his eyes off Erik's. "You think I'll let him meet you on his own? It's not like he knows what you're like." He paused again. "I'm not a spoil sport - I just know you."

Erik slowly nodded, deciding he'd definitely had enough wine to make him drunk, because he was pretty sure Charles had just said…

"We will - it's not a job interview, but a brunch where I'd like to introduce you to my brilliant friend," Charles said. "Then you can talk shop, because I know you don't do job interviews, Pepper takes care of that afterwards. Noon it is then - and thanks Tony - don't make me regret it."

Erik just stared as Charles hung up. "Was that-?"

Charles nodded. "Don't ask - it's a long and stupid story with a lot of stupidity on both our sides, but yes, that was Tony Stark and we're having brunch with him tomorrow - so maybe don't go to bed too late?" he suggested, looking a little unsure of himself. "And again, I hope it's okay that I-"

Erik handed him his glass and saluted him with his own. "Even if I can't get a proper job interview, hanging out with Tony Stark and talking shop is not something I'd ever turn down." And he was being truthful. "I applied to one of the Stark branches, but they weren't hiring within my field."

"Tony rarely sees the applications," Charles admitted. "I know this, because he's normally too busy to care unless he finds the people he wants himself and then just plain abducts them."

"Really?" Erik asked curiously. "Then what just happened?"

"Apparently he recognized your name," Charles said with a small laugh. "So prepare to be nerded at tomorrow, because he seemed very intrigued by your research."

Erik shrugged. "I won't mind. It was a project I theorized when I was still living in Germany, but funding-"

Charles sighed. "Always comes down to funding, doesn't it?"

Erik laughed, feeling oddly light. "Yes, it does - so do I want to talk about it with someone as brilliant as Tony Stark? Yes! Damn it, Charles. If this is what you meddling gets me, by all means."

Charles ducked his head, but looked quite happy himself, his cheeks flushed.

"Let's go in, mingle a bit and then I think I have to head home." Erik shook his head. "I apparently have a brunch appointment tomorrow with you and Tony Stark."

Charles laughed. "Yes, that is probably a good idea."

They both stood, and Erik finally gave into the urge to hug Charles, putting one arm around him and pressing his lips to his temple. "Thank you Charles, for being you and for being back in my life."

Charles was stiff against him for a moment, then seemed to melt into the hug. "You're welcome, Erik. And I'm glad you're back in mine as well."

* * *

The brunch was everything that Charles had hoped for and more. He'd warned Erik beforehand to not mention Hammer. Not that Erik wasn't brilliant and could prove his own worth, but Charles also knew Tony too well. If Tony offered Erik anything job related, he wanted it to be on his merits, and not because Tony could see an opportunity to grab someone from under Hammer's nose. Their rivalry was well known and Charles didn't want Erik to get caught up in it.

Tony wasn't malicious, just one-track-minded at times.

About ten minutes into the brunch, he realized he might as well be invisible. It should have probably stung-- it would have when he'd been younger. Some of those problems were rooted in his mother, but Charles wasn't going to taint an otherwise glorious Sunday brunch with thoughts of his less than loving mother.

And when he said that he was being ignored, he meant it. Erik had been insanely nervous since they'd met up half an hour before the brunch, making their way to Stark Tower. That nervousness had only held up for a few minutes, and Charles was glad that Tony seemed to be in the right mood for it. The man could be taciturn on a good day, but today he was happy to talk shop, drawing information out of Erik like a pro. And Charles knew what he was doing. He was genuinely interested in Erik's research, no doubt about it, but he was also pulling a classic Stark.

There was a reason that Charles and other of Tony's friends tended toward joking that Tony Stark never hired anyone the normal way. He claimed he adopted them, but everyone else tended to swap 'adopt' with 'abduct'. It was like watching a master at work. Charles could see the energy working through Tony's mind and how much it was sparking with each topic he spoke with Erik about. For all that Tony wasn't a mutant, his mind lit up in almost the same way. So much untamed energy.

Being a spectator of this was amazing. Two intelligent - and good looking - men, matching wit and knowledge. Charles always had had a weakness for intelligence.

"Are we not boring you?" Erik asked suddenly. 

Charles blinked in confusion for a moment. He'd been so deeply focused on the cadence of their voices and their minds that he'd zoned out on the ambience. He wasn't skimming words, just… joy.

"Not at all," he finally managed to get out. "Your minds are wonderful to watch when they light up the way they do when you're being creative and nerdy."

"Watch who you are calling nerdy, Xavier," Tony warned, sitting back and nursing his second cup of coffee.

"Am I wrong?" Charles asked curiously. He'd have thought that they were both well aware and would embrace the monicker. He took another piece of toast and buttered it.

Erik and Tony looked at each other then laughed. "No, you're definitely not wrong," Erik said, a soft smile that Charles wasn't exactly sure how to interpret.

Charles noticed that Tony was staring at Erik and then at him, a shrewd look in his eyes that Charles knew to be wary of. He shook his head imperceptibly at Tony.

"So, how did the two of you meet?" Erik asked. "Charles wouldn't tell me before we came here."

"Funny story," Tony said.

"No," Charles said, putting his foot down. He may have decided that having Erik back would suffice, but he did not need Erik to know that there had been anything… shady to how he'd met Tony.. Or carnal.

"Actually," Tony said, changing tactics, "Pepper is the only one who knows, and she refuses to tell us."

Erik looked first at Tony, then at Charles. "How is that even possible?" he asked. "You've got eidetic memory, Charles."

"Yeah, well, apparently there's a limit as to how much alcohol he can consume and still be able to remember anything in the morning," Tony shared all too readily.

Charles hid his face in his hands. It had to be the single worst and possibly single funniest thing ever. "Tony and I met each other at a fundraiser, realized we had a lot in common as well as Tony at the time working on a project and needing input from a geneticist. We left the fundraiser, and the rest of that night and half of the following day, neither of us have any recollection of."

"Don't tell me you woke up in the same bed, naked," Erik said, then looked mildly appalled. "I didn't mean to-"

Tony nearly fell off his chair, laughing.

"I wouldn't say naked, as such," Charles replied, shrugging. "I was wearing some of Tony's experimental suit. The bottom bit, at least."

"Dare I ask what you were wearing?" Erik asked, turning to Tony.

Charles coughed. "As far as I remember, nothing but a cushion in your lap."

Tony snorted and nodded. "Yeah - not sure what we got up to, but I'm sure it was fun."

Charles rolled his eyes. "We had some pretty fantastic models running on the computer, though."

"True, true," Tony agreed, pouring himself another cup of coffee. He gestured at Erik, who nodded and pushed his cup forward for a refill as well.

"So, you two never...?" Erik looked from one to the other.

Charles felt heat colouring his face. "No, we occasionally showed up as the other's plus one over the years, but the press tends to hound Tony, so we agreed that it was too much of a hassle for something that would never be anything but a fling - besides, I was still mostly in Oxford at that point."

"A fling, Charles?" Tony grabbed at his chest. "You're hurting my arch-reactor here, young man."

"Don't you 'young man' me, you arse," Charles said without heat, throwing his napkin at Tony, watching it drift to the table.

"Yes, I can see how such two mature men would be friends," Erik said, deadpan.

Tony just laughed out loud.

Charles stuck his tongue out at Erik.

"So, college friends," Tony said, homing in on Erik and Charles winced.

"Tony."

"It's alright," Erik said, grinning. "Yeah, college - then Charles went to Oxford and I went to Frankfurt and later Berlin. We lost touch."

"We ran into each other just before Christmas," Charles explained, willing Tony to not ask about their time at college.

Tony narrowed his eyes at Charles. The thought bloomed in Charles' mind. Tony was not as proficient at projecting as Erik had been back in college, but he did alright. _'Boyfriend?'_

_'Complicated, please don't bring it up.'_

Nothing more came from Tony, and to Charles' relief, he let it go. Sometimes Tony could be such an arse, but occasionally, he was okay.

The rest of their brunch was amicable, even fun, and Charles was happy to see two of his close friends getting along so well. Now the question was, if it had sowed the right seeds in the right soil.

* * *

"Man, I can't believe you've introduced me to Tony Stark," Erik said as they walked down the street, leaving Stark Tower behind.

"Well, he might not have offered you a job," Charles said. He seemed mildly amused at Erik saying this for the third time in as many minutes.

"I didn't expect him to, but just letting me talk shop with him was great. You must have been bored, admit it," Erik prodded at him. He knew that some parts of their conversations had been well beyond any of Charles' interests.

Charles shook his head. "Nah. I enjoyed listening to the two of you enjoying yourselves, as I told you. And if nothing else, it expands your network," Charles said. "I may be hoping that you'll find a steady job and that it will keep you in New York." The last was added with some rush and colouring of his face.

Erik grinned and nodded. Damn, but Charles still had his unbearably cute moments, even as an adult.

* * *

Erik could hardly contain himself as he tried to type his message to Charles:

_THANK YOU! :D - Tony offered me a project for the next six months along with time to pitch and work on the circuit suits I originally wrote about!_

Hitting send, Erik fell back on his couch. When people had kept telling him that networking was the best way to find a job, he'd never expected this. And Tony hadn't just been mildly interested in Erik using his gift in the line of work - he'd peppered Erik with questions about how metal felt in various states, how electromagnetism felt and so on. It had been oddly endearing and very freeing to Erik. His previous work places hadn't been anti-mutant, far from it, but they'd never taken an interest in him using his gift to do anything work related with.

The reply from his mother sat in his inbox as well. She'd been overjoyed to hear he'd gotten something to do for the near future - even if Tony hadn't promised him anything beyond the six months, he'd let Erik know that he was interested in the suits and was willing to adopt the project and let Erik run it.

Even if it still made him feel odd in the stomach to think about Charles and Tony doing anything… together, he had to admit that if Charles hadn't introduced him, he would at best have been in some boring ass job at Hammer industries - and that hadn't even been secured when Tony had, as Charles would so fondly call it, 'abducted' Erik.

Erik had let his mother know that Charles had been involved in getting him into contact with Stark and she'd insisted that he bring him along to dinner at some point, as a thank you.

And this in turn gave him a completely different feeling in the stomach. He wanted his mother to approve of Charles, didn't he? He just wasn't sure if Charles wanted anything beyond friendship with him. He might want what they had had back in college; the no strings kind of sex.

Erik stared at the happy text he got back from Charles. He had the kids to think about and he wanted Charles in his life permanently more than he wanted the sex back for a short time. The latter wasn't fair to his kids either. If he started anything with anyone, he wanted it to be a family thing, someone who could be part of his and the twins' lives.

No matter how damned fantastic and messy the sex had been. He was fairly sure Charles was still interested, but at what cost? Erik had tried to bring it up once or twice, their past relationship, but Charles kept shying away from it, like it had been a sordid affair - as if they hadn't been friends. Or at least, as if the sex was all Charles remembered of it.

* * *

Charles waited outside the store for Raven. It was a nice day in New York, if a bit chill, but he did prefer it to joining her inside. Ladies lingerie was not his style - one ill advised drunk night at college had proven that. Even if Erik _had_ enjoyed it, as far as Charles remembered.

"Charles?"

Speak of the devil. Charles turned so fast he felt a little dizzy. "Erik!" And, he realized, what would be the kids. The kids who were staring at him intently - like a specimen under a microscope. And in turn, Erik looked at them with a certain amount of worry.

"Kids, this is Charles, we used to go to college together," Erik finally said, then turning to Charles, his worried eyes softening. "Charles, my brood - Wanda and Pietro."

"Twins?" Charles asked before he could stop himself. They did look very close in age and there was a resonance to their minds that went beyond siblings. And they were mutants, no doubt about it.

"How did you guess?" Wanda asked, eyes lighting up.

Charles tapped his temple. "I'm a telepath and the minds of twins give off a slightly different feel than siblings or family members in general." It was actually on the list of some of the things he'd dearly love to delve into if time would only ever allow it. The difference between minds with different connections had always fascinated him.

Pietro seemed to brighten up as well. "You're a mutant too?"

Erik grinned at him and Charles couldn't help but feel pride in the attention. Mutations tended to be either feared or ignored, so anyone being delighted with it, like these two, was wonderful to behold. "Yes," Charles replied.

"So are we," Pietro said, almost vibrating on the spot.

Erik cleared his throat. "Remember what we talked about?" 

Pietro seemed to deflate some. "Yes, dad," he said.

Charles frowned. The Erik he had known would not have curbed another mutant like that.

As if Erik had heard his thoughts, he looked up and met Charles' eyes. "Pietro runs very fast, and the middle of a busy New York street might get him in trouble - he is getting better every day, but the stopping and avoiding obstacles is still a little… ah."

"Work in progress," Wanda added helpfully.

Pietro stuck his tongue out at her. "Like you're one to talk."

"Kids," Erik warned, but there was a warmth to his voice that made Charles' breath hitch. He allowed himself to feel out the shape of Erik's mind. It was lovelier than ever. No specific thoughts, just… the ambience of it.

"Well, if your dad ever brings you up to visit me in Westchester, I'm sure we could work out an obstacle course that could help you learn," Charles said before he could stop himself.

"Still working with mutant kids who can't control their powers?" Erik asked curiously. "I thought that was just back at college."

Charles shook his head. "I have the space. I haven't done anything like mentoring mutants since Oxford. They let me run seminars and courses every once in a while." He hadn't really thought of doing the same here, busy for the first long while with getting acquainted with his new job and surroundings. 

Erik smiled broadly at him and both kids stared in awe at their father - making Charles wonder why. He didn't have much time to do so, though, before the door to the store swung open and Raven joined them.

"Hold this," she said, handing over a bag of clothes, while struggling to shove her card back in her purse. Then she looked up and took in the scene and Charles' heart dropped.

Before she could put her foot in her mouth, Charles spoke up. "This is Raven, my sister - Raven, this is Erik, Wanda and Pietro." He begged her silently to not do or say anything stupid. Not in front of Erik and his kids.

"Wow, blue," was all that came out of Wanda's mouth. "Yeah," Pietro echoed.

Raven burst out laughing. She was sporting her usual look of red hair slicked back, a woollen sweater and jeans. She never wore as many clothes as Charles, her natural state keeping her more than warm enough. Charles was, in general, happy as long as she wore something. There had been a time where she had rebelled and walked around naked - still did in the privacy of their home - but she knew well enough that Charles would refuse to take her shopping if she didn't cover at least a little.

"Wanda, Pietro," Erik said, sounding pained.

"It's alright," Raven said, grinning at Wanda. "I consider it a compliment." She honed in on Wanda's father. "So, you're Erik."

Loaded, so loaded, thought Charles. She knew about the relationship he'd had with Erik at college.

"Raven," Erik said, holding out his hand for her to shake. "I remember Charles mentioning you when we were in college - at least some of the stories from your childhood." This was accompanied by another grin. One of the broad ones.

Raven just grinned back. "I see why they used to call you shark-face back in college," she said.

Charles closed his eyes and didn't whimper. Much. He opened his eyes again to find Erik staring at his sister with a perplexed look and Pietro and Wanda exchanging gleeful looks.

Pietro narrowed his eyes.

"No," Erik said, voice stern, but Charles could hear the underlying knowledge that he was screwed. And quite frankly, judging by the look on both Wanda and Pietro's faces they had caught onto it as well, like sharks smelling blood, to use an apt description.

"I always felt there was something familiar to that grin," Pietro said slowly.

"Don't be too hard on him," Charles said, trying hard not to laugh. "I liked that grin. It was quite fetching."

"Mostly because the menace was pointed at someone other than you?" Raven asked conversationally.

"I get no respect," Erik sighed.

Charles might have felt a little bad if the sigh hadn't been coloured by feelings of amusement and fond memories. "You enjoyed it, admit it," he told Erik. "Striking fear in the hearts of the student body."

"Except you?" Wanda asked.

Charles shot her a quick look. She looked eager to ask and he should probably be careful what he shared with Erik's kids. "Erik was mostly bark and very little bite." He very much did not think about the marks Erik had left on his body many nights at college.

"Well, I'm sure Charles and his sister have better things to do than stand around here answering questions," Erik hurriedly said. He shot both kids a warning look. Then he turned to Charles. "Did I tell you? I'm starting on Monday - for Tony."

Charles nodded. "I know, I'm so glad for you - that it worked out."

"Well, thanks to you," Erik said, his smile softening as he looked at Charles.

Trying not to flush too hard, Charles shook his head. "Nah, I just gave you the leg up - Tony doesn't hire just anybody - if he thinks you're good enough to hire, you're good."

Erik's cheeks coloured, and he shrugged. "Well, be what it may, it was apparently the thing I needed and I'd like to say thanks - and my mother insists on it," Erik carried on, looking a little nervous. "She wants me to bring you over as soon as possible. Are you free next Friday night?"

Charles opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Blinking a couple of times as his mind caught up, he looked up at Erik. "Your mom wants me to-"

"Oh man, you're lucky," Pietro muttered, "Grandma makes the best food."

"She won't take no for an answer," Erik warned him, smiling again, obviously having found his footing again.

"Nice," Raven said, nudging Charles' shoulder

Charles wasn't entirely sure what to say. What did one say when one's old friend-with-benefits from college suddenly wanted you to meet their mother - 18 or so years down the line. "I, eh-"

"Come on, Charles - it's a thank you from the both of us - and she's always wanted to meet you."

"You told your mother about me in college?" Charles asked, eyes wide.

Erik laughed out loud. "Some of it. Maybe not all the stuff we used to get into."

'I should hope not,' Charles thought to himself. "Well, I guess-"

"Good," Erik said. "'I'll text you the details?"

Charles forced a smile. "Yeah. Do that."

"Well, we've got to get home," Erik said, gesturing for the kids to move on. "Great meeting you, Raven. Charles."

"Nice meeting you guys as well," Raven said, sharing a fist bump with Wanda, then Pietro. 

"Bye," Charles said, still reeling from the invitation.

"Wow," Raven said when Erik and his kids were out of sight. "You never told me Erik was a DILF."

"Raven!" Charles gave her a shocked look.

"Don't tell me you haven't thought it," she argued. "And considering you HAVE been there, and done that, you actually know-"

"Please, never mention it again," Charles said, pained.

"Why? You've got eyes, a pulse, you're not dead."

"Because I don't think Erik wants to start anything now that he's here with his kids, and if I have to choose, I'd really rather have his friendship, than risking it for a one night stand." Charles paused for a moment, heart sinking. "No matter how insanely good the sex was."

"Jeez, Charles," Raven said, putting a hand on his arm, squeezing it gently. "I know you said you'd sworn off relationships because you haven't managed to find the right long term one. But come on, even a blind man can see that there's still a spark."

"But I don't want to do this for one or two nights of pleasure," Charles argued. "Please, leave it be, Raven. Don't bring it up again."

Raven sighed heavily. "Okay, but you can't just shut yourself up with work at Columbia or out in Westchester - it's not healthy."

"I know, Raven - and that's exactly why I won't risk my new-found friendship with Erik," Charles tried to explain to her. 

Raven stared at him, then shook her head. "I can't figure out if you do this to yourself, or if you're just shit out of luck."

Charles laughed without mirth. "I'd like an answer to that question as well, if you ever figure it out."

* * *

Charles parked the car in the driveway. He had promised to come pick Erik and the kids up before heading over to Edie's. It had really been supposed to be the other way around, Erik had called him around noon, asking if Charles could come to their place as he'd be a little delayed. It wasn't out of the way for Charles anyway, so he'd readily agreed.

Charles had gone through the sub-level garage and gone over some of his father's vintage cars. He knew Erik's affinity for metal, he absolutely loved fancy cars - and fancy cars had been a bit of a passion for Charles' father. The collection was still quite big, even if Kurt had managed to total or sell a few of them.

Since the will of his dead mother had burned Kurt, Charles had made sure that the cars were well maintained, even when he'd still been in Britain. It was something he could remember of his father, when he'd still been alive.

Charles sighed and pushed away the thought of his father's death and the less than golden years with his stepfather. He was nervous enough about meeting Edie - not to mention, spending the evening with a family. It would put him so far out of his depth it wasn't even funny.

And he hadn't even gone for one of the vintage cars. They all guzzled so much petrol compared to modern cars - and considering that Raven had bugged him to get a more sustainable car, well, who was he to argue with his sister? It wasn't as if she was wrong.

Pulling into the driveway, Charles realized that Erik's car wasn't there. A quick check and he realized he'd had a text while he'd been driving. From Erik.

'Stuck in traffic, on my way.'

Charles checked the time - ah, only five minutes ago. Which meant he either stayed in the driveway, sitting in his car for a while, or he could go inside.

Where the kids were. Erik's kids. Erik's teenage kids. Without Erik as a buffer.

Charles took a deep breath, then looked up towards the entrance to the house. It was a nice little house, nothing huge, but big enough for the three of them, obviously. The suburbs. Erik would have killed anyone suggesting he'd ever end up in the suburbs back in college.

Charles braced himself, then got out of the car and locked it. There were a lot of things that had changed since their time in college. He was fairly sure that Erik was still attracted to him, because he'd occasionally mentioned their time together in college. And considering it had all been about sex, the thought wasn't really that outlandish. It only made Charles more focused on not starting anything with him. The last thing he needed was another empty relationship. Based solely on sex.

Not that he didn't still want Erik. Hell, he wasn't dead, was he? And if Erik ever pushed the point, ever took the first step, Charles wasn't sure if he was strong enough to turn him down.

As he reached the door, Charles pushed the last less than clean thoughts about Erik from his mind.

"Charles!" 

Charles froze in place. The door seemed to burst open, Pietro standing inside it, beaming at him.

"Eh," Charles managed.

"You're not supposed to just open the door!" hollered Pietro's sister from inside.

"But it's Charles!" Pietro yelled back.

Charles felt a little shell shocked at first. Then he shook his head. Come on, he could handle the kids at Columbia, and while Pietro and Wanda were a little younger, he would need to keep a level head to deal with them.

"It's possible you should have at least waited until I'd knocked," Charles managed.

Pietro looked at him, making a face. "Yeah, probably. But it all takes too long."

"And you're procrastinating instead of making your homework," Wanda said, as she walked up behind him. "And why are you still at the door? Let him in!"

Charles hid a grin as Pietro stuck his tongue out at his sister. Well, not too different from the relationship Charles had with Raven, now was it? Even as adults. Or maybe especially as adults.

"I don't wanna," Pietro muttered as he let Charles in. "I hate biology. It makes no sense."

Ah. "Why?" Charles asked before he could stop himself.

"Oh man, don't get him started," Wanda warned, leading the way into a cozy living room, the dining table groaning under the weight of books and notepads and two laptops.

"I just don't understand what we're currently learning," said Pietro.

"Well, since we're waiting for your dad to get home, why don't you show me what is giving you trouble?" Charles asked. This he could do. This was him in his element rather than out of it. He hung his jacket over the back of a chair and took a seat at the table.

Wanda and Pietro were staring at him. "Seriously?" asked Pietro. "You'd do that?"

"Well, I teach genetics at university - it's a related area. So, what is the problem?" he asked.

Pietro gestured to the small mountain of books on what was obviously his side of the table.

"You just gestured at all of it," Charles said, carefully.

"It is all of it," Pietro said, voice laced with frustration.

"We had a sucky teacher for the last semester, and he wasn't particularly good at teaching us," Wanda explained. "Dad does his best, but biology isn't exactly his strong suit."

"No, I remember," Charles said drily. "We had some long, loud discussions regarding evolution and mutant genetics."

"Ah," said Pietro. "The homo superior thing, right?"

"Well, that was how your dad used to look at it." Charles tried to be diplomatic. There had been times where Erik had leaned so far towards mutant supremacy that it hadn't even been funny. "Right, so show me the topics you're covering this term, and we'll see about getting the basics for it solidified, okay?" he offered. It would make safer topics than questions about their dad's college years.

Both kids nodded and before long, Charles had forgotten all about his nerves, and was entrenched in what he liked best - teaching.

* * *

Erik pulled in next to the unknown car in the driveway. Charles. Fuck. Damn it. He was nearly an hour late - he'd already called his mother and texted Charles and the kids several times - his mother had laughed at him when he'd tried to tell her how worried he was about the fact that Charles was alone with the twins while Erik was stuck in traffic and could do fuck all about it.

He was going to maim his kids if they'd killed Charles, or just as bad, driven him to the point where he wouldn't want to have anything to do with Erik _ever_ again.

Taking a calming breath before entering, Erik tried to center himself. The kids were much like predators - smelling weakness in their prey, they would use it against it.

"So, that's just about it," Charles said, his voice its usually congenial self and Erik closed the door behind him, loudly enough to let them know he was home. He wasn't about to try to sneak up on them.

 _'Not much sneaking when I could feel you panicking in the driveway,_ Charles told him without looking up.

"Dad!" Wanda called. "Can we keep uncle Charles?"

Erik just stared at them. "Keep?"

Charles just grinned, a little colour reddening his cheeks.

"Yeah," Wanda said, putting her textbooks away. "He made biology make sense to Pietro."

Erik cast about for the right words. Keep? Hell yes. Biology made sense to Pietro? Last time they'd talked about it, Pietro had been bordering on maiming his teacher, who was, and Erik agreed on this, an idiot.

"It seems all he needed was the right angle," Charles said with a shrug.

Damn it, Erik told himself, in the most quiet corner of his mind, why did he have to be so fucking adorable?

"Well, if that's homework done, I think we should all get ready to go to grandma's place," Erik said, hiding his sudden weakness and setting down his bag. "I'll be right with you - I want to get out of this suit."

The kids cheered and Erik knew that they'd been looking forward to seeing his mom the whole week. He didn't blame them - he really didn't. Her cooking by far outdid his. He met Charles' eyes and hesitated for a moment. "I know we kinda pushed you into this, Charles."

Charles shook his head. "It's okay, as long as your mother is okay with me joining dinner."

"Don't be an idiot," Erik said with a huff, heading towards the bedroom. "My mother issued this invitation for you specifically - the rest of us are simply allowed to tag along."

Charles' laughter sounded a little forced and Erik frowned. He pulled a t-shirt on and changed from his dress pants into a pair of jeans. During their time at college, Erik had always encouraged the use of mutant gifts, but he knew he'd occasionally curbed Charles' usage. It wasn't something he was proud of in memory. He wasn't even sure why the fact that Charles could read his mind if he so chose had been so scary back then.

Did he want Charles to read his mind now? Well, if he did, maybe he'd see what Erik had so much trouble conveying. What he wanted. Maybe because Erik wasn't entirely sure either.

Friendship? Yes. Companionship? Yes. Sex? If Charles wanted to. ...Love? Erik drew a deep breath, trying to center himself. Returning to the living room, he walked over to Charles who was still seated at the table. "My mother really wanted to meet you and say thank you for hooking me up with Tony - there are no nefarious reasons for this, okay?"

Charles nodded quickly. Taking a deep breath he cleared his throat. "How come you're in a suit today, I thought you were working in the labs and could get away with a less formal dressing?"

Erik sighed. "You know as well as I do that we can't always hide in the labs - I know you enjoy teaching, but be honest, you would live in a lab if you could get away with it."

"Ah, meetings," Charles deducted.

"Meetings," Erik repeated with a roll of the eyes. It was, however, a small price to pay for the job he was currently doing. He'd only been with Stark Enterprises for a week, but already he felt at home, he liked his job and the stability that came with it. Hell, he even liked Tony - most days.

Wanda and Pietro returned to the living room, their homework back in their room and both of them more than ready to get to their grandma's place - and dinner.

The drive was… interesting. The kids loved the car - _Erik_ loved the car - how could he not? He'd been surprised that Charles had gone for a hybrid car. He knew about the old cars at the mansion, or at least, they'd been there when Charles and he had been at college. Erik had seen pictures. But seeing Charles in a more environmentally friendly car… well, much like everything else about Charles, it made Erik's stomach do strange somersaults.

"A hybrid car, Charles? Not what I'd expected," he managed to say.

"Why not?" Charles asked. 

Erik knew that he would be picking up on his surface thoughts, but he carefully, quietly, buried anything else truly deep. "Not exactly the image of a wealthy man in his 30s," Erik admitted.

"Pish-posh," Charles said, in his usual posh British accent. "I don't need a midlife crisis of buying expensive sports cars, or driving my father's old classics - Raven was right when she suggested a hybrid - it drives well, and if I can do a little more for the environment this way, why not?"

* * *

"I am so happy that you said yes to the invitation, Charles," Edie said, handing him a cup of steaming tea. She gestured at the table. "Please, milk and sugar - I did not want to guess at your preferences."

Charles smiled, feeling mildly overwhelmed. Erik's mother was… well, many thing, most of all nothing like Charles' own mother had been. The dinner had been amazing and while he'd been less nervous as they'd eaten, now with no dinner to quiet things, he felt a little worried again.

"Thanks, mum," Erik said, taking one of the cups, filled to the brim with black coffee. 

"So, Charles," Edie said, sitting down, pinning Charles in place with her gaze. "Erik used to tell me tales about your time in college."

Charles nearly choked on his tea. _'Erik?'_ Damn, but he was glad the kids were busy watching TV and weren't paying too much attention to them.

 _'Not those parts,'_ Erik projected back to him, the 'you idiot' unsaid, but heavily implied.

"He always spoke fondly of you, so I'm glad that you are back in his life." Edie looked so happy that Charles could not bring himself to say anything, he just nodded.

Edie carried on and slowly, but surely, Charles let his defenses down again, more than enough to enjoy the moment. And enjoy the interaction between mother and son. It was nothing like what his own relationship with his emotionally distant mother had been like. He had it, right there, the woman who knew more about Erik than any other human being ever could.

The old stories from college brought a memory back to him, and he put his cup down. "Edie, might I ask you a question?"

Edie nodded, more than happy to let him go on. Erik… looked like he wasn't sure what to expect from Charles. Good, Charles thought. Very good.

"Erik used to call me a lot of stuff in German, and most of them I could guess - but there was one he never wanted to translate to me - just laughed at me when he did use it." Charles crossed his fingers that it wasn't some sex-related term, but then again, it was one Erik had mostly used with a fond expression on his face.

Erik looked more than a little alarmed now, but Charles carried on. "He used to call me…" Charles closed his eyes and focused on the way that Erik had always said it. Of course, what came out of his mouth was mangled German, but apparently it was enough for Edie to catch it.

" _Dreikäsehoch_ , I think," Charles said.

Edie looked puzzled for a moment, then outraged, as she turned to her son and hit his shoulder. "You! I thought I had taught you proper manners."

Charles blinked in confusion. "Was it that bad?" he managed to break in. Both Wanda and Pietro had turned their attention back to the adults at Edie's exclamation.

Edie patted his hand. "It was rude of him. Just because he's so tall, it does not give him the right to make fun of other people's lack of height."

Charles stared at Erik. "What exactly does it mean?" Erik had always said it in a way that Charles had thought it was some silly endearment. 

"I think perhaps Erik should be the one to say that," Edie said, giving Erik a stern look.

Erik looked caught between embarrassment and laughter. "It literally means the size of three wheels of cheese stacked on top of one another."

Charles just stared at him. "So all the while, you were making fun of my height - or rather the lack thereof?" Charles wasn't entirely sure how to handle this. Considering that sometimes when he'd been having a wank, he'd closed his eyes and remembered Erik calling him that in a soft, breathy…. Damn.

"Sorry, but you were kinda small and cute," Erik admitted, a slight flush colouring his cheeks.

"That is no excuse," Edie said to him just as both Pietro and Wanda piped up with "Dad!" and "So rude!"

Edie patted Charles' hand again. 

"Of course my mother sides with you," Erik said, pursing his lips. "And my spawn as well." He mock glared at the two kids who were in no way intimidated by it.

"Don't pout, dear, it's unbecoming," Edie told him.

Charles wanted dearly to stick his tongue out at him, but thought perhaps not - seeing as he had Edie firmly in his corner. He opted for just grinning meanly at Erik.

Who then stuck his tongue out at Charles and was promptly told off by his mother.

It was not just an informative afternoon with Erik's mother, but absolutely fantastic as well.

He and Erik insisted on doing the dishes when they were done with the after dinner coffee and tea. And Charles wasn't going to complain. Especially not when it put him in the small kitchen, shoulder to shoulder with Erik.

"I had fun today," Charles said, drying dishes as Erik washed them and put them in front of him. _'Thank you,_ he pushed at Erik, not feeling words quite covered it. He watched in fascination as the cutlery floated into the drainer without Erik even seeming to make a conscious thought. Erik had always used his gift in such a natural way, back in college. Unapologetically a mutant.

"Don't thank me," Erik said with a laugh. "I'd say thank my mother, but I know her - and she'll just tell you she wanted to do something good for you."

"Hey, getting you a job with Tony was the least I could do - you would have been wasted at Hammer Industries." Charles had never done well with praise, and he was feeling heat creep into his cheeks. Also, it was like Erik's mind was embracing each little touch from Charles. Back in college he could never be sure how Erik received his mental gift. For a man who preached the superiority of mutants, he'd been occasionally prickly about Charles' gift. Charles had tried hard to not feel resentment back then. He knew that Emma had played one or two tricks on Erik in their youth, but he'd always hoped that Erik would grow to see beyond the label of 'telepath'. And now it seemed he had.

Charles took a deep breath. Did he really want to broach this? Erik had tried at Emma's party, and Charles had felt like a deer caught in the headlights. And he'd reacted accordingly. He'd tried to deflect Erik's talk of their time in college, or rather, the sex they'd had.

"Well, I appreciate what you've done," Erik said earnestly. "Without you, I wouldn't have met Tony and been offered the job I have."

"Don't be silly," Charles said, feeling as if his cheeks were on fire. "You'd have found something eventually. I just sped things along."

"If you say so," Erik replied.

"Wow," Charles said, a little in awe. "You backed down during a discussion - who are you and what have you done with Erik Lehnsherr?"

Erik splashed water at him and Charles grinned. "Hey, you were right when you said we probably fueled our sex with the same deep emotions and anger at the world as we did our discussions."

Erik stilled, hand submerged in the soapy water, then he carried on washing the last of the dishes. "We were different people back then."

And that was that. Charles could only feel the walls that Erik tended to build around his mind. He could have easily broken them down, but it would go against all his ethics, the law as well as his respect for Erik.

Even if Erik _had_ brought it up first, it seemed he'd changed his mind. And Charles couldn't very well push him about it. He wanted to be glad about that, wanted to be happy that it meant Erik wouldn't make him reconsider his vow to avoid relationships based on nothing but sex. He'd had enough of those short term flings. If he had to choose between a one night stand with Erik and a long term friendship with the man… well, it wasn't really much of a choice, was it?

"So," he said, casting about for something to lighten the mood. "The height of three cheese stacked on top of each other," he said. He shared his amusement with Erik, mentally, feeling the familiar flush of good humour from him. He wanted Erik to know that he wasn't truly insulted, though perhaps a little embarrassed. Though the latter he was not going to tell Erik.

"There was only so many jokes I could make about your height or lack thereof," Erik said with a snort.

Of course it wasn't the end of it. Since Charles now knew that Erik had made fun of him, he decided to revive another thing from college - mostly because Raven had brought it up when they'd run into the Lehnsherr's; the old joke that Erik was like a walking great white.

So what better way to do so than trawling the internet for shark memes. And sending them to Erik's email address. As often as he could.

Much to his surprise, it seemed Wanda and Pietro were using his email as well. He'd initially given them the address if they needed his input for their homework, but it quickly ended up being for everything else as well.

Wanda had even emailed him and asked him if he was still angry with their dad because of the name calling. Charles wasn't, and he'd told her as much. He'd just made the off hand comment as well that he was getting back at Erik by the use of shark memes.

He would have never been able to guess that the kids would take this idea and drive it beyond what was probably good for Erik's sanity.

* * *

Saturday morning, and Erik was finally allowed to sit back and enjoy his morning coffee, quietly in the kitchen. Wanda was on the couch playing on their gaming console and Pietro was actually reading on the couch. Another thing, Erik knew, that had been Chales' fault. The boy was a good kid, but he did have trouble keeping his focus at times - and Charles had warned him that part of it might stem from his mutant powers. The whole world felt to Pietro as if it was moving in slow motion most of the time. So the lack of focus often came back to moving faster than anyone else.

The fact that Charles had made a reading list for Pietro that the boy actually tried to read. Well, the age of miracles was apparently still happening.

"Daaaaad." Pietro's voice cut through the house.

Erik hoped nothing bad had happened, but he re-tied his bathrobe and hurried into the living room. "What?

Wanda pointed at the TV screen where she was in the middle of the game. "Is that a distant cousin?"

Erik stared at the screen at a widely smiling creature, best described as a man/shark hybrid.

"Nah, sorry, can't be," Pietro said from his position on the couch. "His motivational speeches are far too good for him to be related to you."

"I do good motivational speeches!" Erik tried to defend himself. He'd definitely not had enough coffee for this.

Pietro and Wanda both stared at him like he'd grown another head. Erik had never wanted to tell his kids to fuck off as much as at that very moment. Instead he glared at them, pulled his phone out of the pocket of his bathrobe and texted Charles.

_**'I hate you - you've turned my kids against me. Shark memes from you is one thing, Shark jokes from my kids is taking it too far. They've changed my ringtone to the jaws theme!** _

Erik grinned to himself when a text came back as he was fixing another cup of coffee.

_**'Karma's a bitch - cry me a river and drown in it.'** _

There was no way around it, Erik was damned glad that Charles was back in his life. Now if only he could open that one conversation about what he really wanted. He didn't want to go back to their friends with benefits thing from college, but hot damn, he'd like to add the intimacy to their current friendship. The problem was how he was supposed to open that conversation without fucking everything up? Especially considering he'd already tried, at Emma's and, stupidly, he'd backed down when Charles had presented him with an opening at Edie's.

And if Charles was only interested in sex? Maybe that was it? Maybe he was hesitant about it because he wasn't interested in starting anything with a single father. Maybe it would be too complicated?

Edie, Wanda and Pietro would kill him if he lost Charles.

* * *

Charles might admit to the fact that the shark thing went beyond a little extreme. It all came to a head a few weeks later, when Erik had needled him until he agreed to join them for a movie night. He'd tried to argue that it was obviously a family thing, but Erik had assured him that the kids wanted him there as well.

Charles would be lying to himself if he claimed that he didn't care about it being right. He'd grown to like Wanda and Pietro. So far, he'd deflected all Raven's questions about his relationship with the Lehnsherr family. But if he were to look deeper into his attachment, one wouldn't need a degree in psychology to see that Charles would, if forced, have a very hard time detaching himself from them.

Edie was a lovely mother, a no-nonsense woman and had the kind of motherly warmth that Charles had never experienced in his childhood home. The kids were very much Erik's. Quirky, stubborn and possessing a gift of burrowing their way inside Charles' defenses.

And Erik?

Charles looked over at Erik who was filling the coffee table with snacks and soda, before dropping onto the couch next to Charles.

Erik could very well be Charles' downfall. Warm and inviting and with the sharp edges and corners of his youth worn to a more manageable level. He was still a stubborn man, but he knew how to compromise and bend when the situation called for it.

Though, a moment later, when Wanda and Pietro joined them, Erik did his best to convince Charles otherwise.

Pietro was sitting in a nest of cushions on the floor, working his way through the lineup on the TV. And Charles had to wonder how Erik could have been so careless as to let the children choose the night's movies.

Erik stilled next to him, then a small exasperated growl escaped him. "Seriously, Pietro?"

Charles looked up at the screen and fought the urge to laugh long and heartedly. Pietro had lined up no less than four movies to choose from. And he could see how Erik would consider it a personal affront.

Wanda snorted from her seat in the chair to Erik's other side.

"What's wrong with the titles?" Pietro asked, far too innocently for it to be real.

"Sand Sharks, Megalodon, Jaws and Sharknado?!" Erik's voice rose a little at the end.

Charles finally cracked when Wanda and Pietro both turned to Erik, with similar expressions of innocence.

"Et tu, Brute?" Erik muttered.

Charles hiccuped another laugh, his diaphragm disagreeing with the workout. "So-sorry, Erik, but you have to admit they have your skills at pranks and then some."

Erik grumbled. "Outdone by my own brood," he complained.

Feeling a little sorry for him, Charles tapped Pietro's thigh with his toes. "Would you like me to referee and find other options?" he asked. "I think perhaps your father will admit to you having won this round."

Erik opened his mouth to disagree, but Charles shot him another grin and he subsided. The look on his face was unfamiliar to Charles. There was fondness there, but something else as well. Something deeper that Charles didn't dare unfold his gift to see. Not right now.

"How about Pacific Rim," Charles finally managed, one of the first options that came up that he knew and didn't mind re-watching.

At least they all agreed.

About ten minutes into the movie, Charles realized that Erik seemed to be slowly migrating closer and closer. And the worst part of it was, it didn't seem like he was aware of it. He'd move a bit forward to grab a snack. Then sit back - a little closer to Charles. And a few minutes later, he'd repeat the move.

A little later, Erik sighed and this time he was much closer than Charles had expected. "There's another shark thing in this one, isn't there?"

"Compromise, Erik, compromise," Charles said primly, feeling silent laughter shaking Erik's body next to him. "Look at it this way, these are alien monsters that may resemble earth predators - it's not a personal insult to you."

"No, I actually like this movie," Erik said. "And I can't complain about the company."

Charles tried hard not to be hyper-aware of Erik after that comment. But it was a losing battle.

* * *

They ended up watching Jaws afterwards anyway, and the kids were slowly drifting off. Erik looked at Charles next to him - not too far behind, either.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Charles muttered. "It's like I can feel all your neurons firing. Plotting world domination again, are we?"

Erik chuckled. "Sort of, but that's phase two." If Charles leaned a little more, he'd have his head on Erik's shoulder.

"Dare I ask what phase one is?" Charles asked with a chuckle.

"Saving the world," Erik shot back, keeping his voice neutral. Anytime they'd had these rounds of banter in their youth, they'd always ended up either having sex or actual arguments that kept them apart for days. And then they'd have the most magnificent make-up sex afterwards.

And Erik really shouldn't be having these thoughts on the couch in the living room with his kids present.

"Come again?" Charles asked, obviously trying to shake himself awake.

For a moment, Erik's mind shorted out, with only the reply of 'yes, master,' and then he caught up with their conversation. "We have to save it first, don't we?" Erik argued, proud that his voice sounded like he was more in control than he, strictly speaking, felt. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to dominate this current shithole of a planet, so saving it must be the first phase."

"Dad, language," Wanda muttered sleepily from the floor where she'd joined her brother at the beginning of the movie.

"Sorry, hon," Erik said automatically. He occasionally forgot himself. And currently he could forget all his reservations, because Charles was listing to the side, leaning into him without consciously doing so. 

It was becoming increasingly hard to do the right thing.

When the end-credits ran on Jaws, Erik carefully extracted himself from Charles, who slid into the corner of the couch and carried on sleeping. He ushered the kids to bed, and neither of them seemed particularly curious about having Charles conked out on their couch.

It all felt so… homey.

Charles had turned down the offer of staying in the guest room, when Erik had asked him earlier in the week, but surely he wasn't going to drive home, halfway asleep.

He made sure that everything was in order, all the snacks and drinks were tidied away. Wanda and Pietro were long since in bed. At least this wasn't one of the days where he had to debate bedtimes with them. He couldn't even feel the electrical charge from any of their phones or video games.

Small blessings.

Erik knelt next to the couch, for a moment allowing himself to drink in the sight of Charles, all his defenses down and quiet in his sleep. Save for that cute little snuffle when he inhaled.

"-n-t cute," Charles mumbled, eyes still closed.

"Stay the night," Erik said, quietly, reaching out to cup Charles' cheek before he could stop himself.

Charles lifted his own hand and cupped it around Erik's. "I'm sure you didn't mean for it to sound like that."

"And if I did?" Erik asked, swallowing hard. This was pretty much it, wasn't it? "I mean, are we actually on the same page here?"

"Hell if I know," Charles chuckled. He looked a little more awake and a lot more interested.

And that was all that Erik needed. He leaned in and pressed his lips to Charles', pulling him close as Charles' arms came up around his neck.

Erik had no recollection of the next few moments. Stumbling along the hallway to his bedroom, he was far too busy reacquainting himself with Charles' body and his lips, revelling in the feel of Charles equally busy shoving his hands up under Erik's shirt.

He spared a moment to be glad that the rooms of the twins were at the other end of the house, because as much as he was going to try to keep quiet, he was not making any promises - and if he recalled it right, Charles could be damned loud at times.

Pivoting through the door, Erik pulled Charles along to the bed and down on top of him, arching up to get as much friction as possible. He could slowly feel how Charles' usually impeccable shields wavered, his need for Erik bleeding through. His lust was weaving around Erik's, ramping it all up by a factor of ten.

"Charles," Erik forced out against the naked skin of Charles' neck. "I want this so much, even if it's just for one night." His entire being raged like a caged animal against this, but it was the truth. He could rant and rail all he wanted, but even if he was never going to have this again, he would spend this one night worshipping Charles and all that he was.

And then it stopped as fast as it had started.

"Hold it, Erik. Just a second!" Charles was heavy on top of him, face buried again Erik's neck, his breath hot and humid against Erik's skin. He seemed to be fighting the urge to stay there for a moment, then he sat upright, the pressure of him seated right across Erik's crotch almost making him go cross eyed.

Charles apparently realized this, moving down a little.

Erik made a confused noise, he wasn't entirely sure that he agreed on the move. However, something seemed to have made Charles stop. It was really difficult to think when all your blood had left your head and pooled elsewhere.

"No, just be quiet for a moment, alright?" Charles said, pushing Erik into the mattress a little harder. "Don't say anything, just nod or shake your head."

It really made no sense to Erik, but if this was how Charles was going to play it, he had to be the bigger man and just... give him the time he suddenly seemed to need. So he nodded.

Charles looked like he wasn't faring much better in the focussing department. "You - you think I'm in it for the sex only, don't you? I mean, if you think this is a one time only." He shook his head. "Sorry, I kept getting flashes of memory from you. Of our time in college."

Erik shrugged. It wasn't a lie. Every time he'd considered it, he'd wondered if Charles would ever be interested in a romantic relationship with him - mostly because it would come with a fully extended family.

"You think I don't want a... " Charles paused. "A relationship." The last of his words were spoken much softer, with a touch of wonder.

Erik lifted his hands and waved them up and down a bit, fingers spread. He wasn't entirely sure what he was trying to convey either - but considering that that was kind of what he'd thought… not what he'd _hoped_ , mind…

Charles wrinkled his nose. "Jazz hands are not much of an answer, are they?"

Erik rolled his eyes and gave Charles the finger. This was so much what they had been and what they had become, wasn't it? The whole knowing each other in college and reforming a friendship years later - as adults, when they'd both grown so much.

"Yeah, I can see how you've grown as a person," Charles said with a snort.

Erik huffed. "You told me not to say anything, you idiot. And what was I supposed to think?" He lay back and closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again and stared up at Charles. "You kept distancing yourself from our past relationship, whenever it came up. You mentioned a couple of times that the sex we had in college was good." He took a deep breath. "I mean, don't get me wrong, the sex was phenomenal, but I wasn't seeing anyone else then. Were you?"

Charles went quiet for a moment, thoughtful. "No," he finally replied, barely audible.

"I'm not saying we were your average ordinary american sweethearts, and I doubt we would have lasted as a couple even if we tried." Erik sighed. No, they'd probably have torn each other to pieces. "We needed to mature, both of us. And I wouldn't have ended up with the two kids I love and adore."

Charles huffed out a small laugh. "Your kids turned out pretty okay, yeah."

Erik reached up and pinched Charles in the side, watching him squirm before Charles slapped his arm.

And just like that they were back at it. Erik closed his eyes and held on to Charles, rolling them over. Maybe he could have this after all.

* * *

Charles woke up with the tickly feel of someone breathing against his neck, and the warm skin, a little damp with sweat from where their body heat was a little too high for comfort, against his own.

Just one ni-

He blinked rapidly, tightening the hold on the body in his arms. In turn, Erik muttered something against his skin and nuzzled further into the embrace.

Not just a one night stand, was it? Erik had said that it wasn't. Charles had said it wasn't - okay, he'd muttered it into Erik's damp skin as they'd settled in to sleep. He was sure Erik had gotten it. Well, he would have, because Charles was pretty sure he'd been so thoroughly sexed out that he'd pressed it into Erik's mind as well. The appreciation, the relief.

And that had been the first round. If they'd still been at college there would have been at least two more rounds of energetic sex before drifting off to sleep. Now? Charles looked at Erik in the dim light from the bedside clock. What did it say about him that being held afterwards and just languidly kissing and cuddling and touching had felt even better than the actual sex?

The sex had been spectacular, but the afterglow? Something out of this world. Charles closed his eyes and grinned. The explorations and getting reacquainted through touch… It had all felt so new and yet so familiar and comforting.

All Charles really wanted at that moment was to curl up around Erik again, but there was no ignoring his bladder. With a soft curse, he checked the time. Nearly 3AM.

Normally Charles wouldn't touch someone else's mind like this when they weren't awake to consent, but Erik had more or less dragged him inside his head once they had realized that they'd been a couple of idiots, obviously wanting the same thing.

So different from their time in college. To be welcomed like that inside Erik's mind. He knew, without having to check, that there was still a small tendril of a connection between them, partly due to the skin to skin contact.

However, the need for the bathroom overrode everything else. He poked Erik's mind enough to get him to let go and rolled out of bed. Belatedly, he remembered that they weren't alone in the house and grabbed the first pair of boxers and a shirt before making his way down the hallway to the bathroom.

Of course, once awake, his mind raced a mile a minute. Not necessarily in a bad way. But he knew the signs of his mind powering up to the point where sleep wouldn't happen. He looked at his image in the mirror as he washed his hands. He could, of course, just climb back in bed because that was where Erik was, currently.

He went into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. Outside it was still dark, and the street was quiet.

The choice of what to do was taken away from him as he felt Pietro's mind moving towards the bathroom and then wandering to the - ah. The guest room. The guestroom that Charles had most definitely not slept in. Hell, he hadn't intended to stay over in the first place, but here he was, obviously not having gone home _or_ slept in the guest room, in their kitchen, wearing, he realized, Erik's boxers and t-shirt.

Damning proof if there ever was any.

There was a quick blast of air and then quiet. Then Wanda's mind joined Pietro's and there was no doubt that they were heading towards the kitchen.

And Charles.

This was how Charles ended up in the Lehnsherr kitchen on a very early Sunday morning, having non-earth-shattering conversations with the children of the man he loved. School, mutant powers, training said powers, stupid teachers/adults/humans holding them back. Charles did what he could to put a lid on the whole 'humans hold us back' but considering some of the things the twins shared with him, well, they could definitely do with some different teachers with some different teaching methods and role models.

So maybe the conversations weren't earth-shattering, but they spawned ideas in Charles' mind. That thing they'd all talked about back at college. A place for them to learn, a place for them to train.

It wasn't a fully formed plan, but it was a seed for one. That old mansion Charles lived in now was far too big for one man. Even if Erik and the kids joined him up there at some point.

There were so many other things it could be used for.

Charles was deep in those thoughts while making pancakes for the twins by the time he felt Erik stirring from his sleep. It must have showed on his face, because Wanda giggled and drew his attention.

"Dad's awake?" she asked innocently.

Charles thought about denying it just for a moment, then gave up. There was no way they could keep this kind of thing a secret from a couple of teenagers, who were far too curious for their own good.

"Be nice to him, okay?" Charles said, considering warning Erik about the kids, but he was a little too late at that point, and he could feel the rising panic and sense of doom coming off Erik. For goodness sake, the man should trust his kids more - and Charles for that matter.

So when Erik entered the kitchen, he looked like he was in complete control. Even if Charles could tell it was very much a facade. His eyes might have widened a bit when he saw what Charles was wearing, but he didn't say anything about it.

"Mornin'," Erik said, making an aborted movement towards Charles. It only made Charles roll his eyes and as he put the pancakes down on the table along with fresh coffee for both himself and Erik, he leaned in and pecked Erik on the cheek, pressing into his mind how very late it was to be closing the stable - the horse being long gone. At least one continent over.

Heat coloured Erik's face and he buried his face in his hands.

"Don't show them any weakness, darling," Charles teased as he sat down next to Erik, across from Pietro and Wanda who were already making inroads into their pancake stacks. "They are, after all, the offspring of an apex predator."

"Oh, you've met Magda?" Erik asked, voice muffled.

Charles pinched his side, forcing him to sit up straight.

"It's okay, dad," Pietro said with a roll of the eyes.

"Yeah, we like Charles, so we won't give you too much grief," Wanda promised.

"That's… good?" Erik said, finally taking his hands away from his face.

"Not too much grief," Pietro warned him. "We didn't say no grief."

"Oh good, I'm doomed," Erik said dryly, but he was smiling and, to Charles, his mind was lighting up in the most fantastic ways.

"Stop being such a drama-llama, dad," Wanda said, making a face at her dad, then shooting Charles a pitying look. "See what you're getting yourself into?"

Charles snorted. "This is nothing compared to what your dad was like at college."

"Charles, no," Erik warned.

Charles looked across the table at the twins who wore similar expressions of expectancy and glee. "Charles, yes!" they countered.

"I'm sorry, Erik, they seem to be twisting my arm," Charles said, feeling the wave of happiness coming off Erik.

He wasn't in any way bothered by this. Apparently this was very much the way the Lehnsherr twins communicated and interacted with their father. High on sarcasm - well, it had been one of the subjects Charles had always excelled in. He was sure he could keep up with them.

"Be careful with that kind of thoughts," Erik warned him, and Charles knew he'd projected it.

Charles reached over and patted Erik's thigh. "It'll be good exercise."

Erik didn't reply, just took his fork with one hand and dug into his pancakes, while curling the other one around Charles' hand under the table - then, after a moment, lifting it up and resting both their hands on top of the table.

The end.

**Author's Note:**

> The game Wanda is playing is Legend of Zelda - Breath of the Wild. The character she references is one of my own favourite ones from the game: Prince Sidon, who is a shark/humanoid hybrid - a Zora - and he is indeed a walking motivational poster.


End file.
